Gvardiol: The Soldier Driving Manchester City’s Flawless Start

A year ago, Josko Gvardiol was talking about bones knitting back together and needing “at least a year before everything heals inside”. Now he is driving Manchester City’s flawless start from a position that was never meant to be his.

The Croatian defender, signed from RB Leipzig in 2023 for £77m to become the second most expensive defender in history behind Harry Maguire, looks like he’s finally back to himself – and maybe something more.

City were humbled 3-0 by Arsenal in the Community Shield in August. Since then, Enzo Maresca’s side have rattled off six straight wins in all competitions, conceding just twice in four Premier League games. The recovery has been sharp. So has Gvardiol.

Centre-back signing, standout left-back

Ruben Dias has the armband now. Marc Guehi has slotted in alongside him to form a new-look central pairing. That left Maresca with a puzzle: how do you keep a £77m defender in the team when your centre-backs are flying?

You put him at left-back. And you don’t look back.

Gvardiol has taken the role and made it his own. Sources close to him call him a “soldier” – told where to play, he simply gets on with it and delivers. He is said to be “satisfied” with Maresca’s call, and believes English football has sharpened his tactical understanding.

Left-back, he feels, demands more physically than centre-half. More running, more sprints, more ground to cover. He relishes it. It lets him surge into the final third, arrive late, and attack the box. The numbers already tell the story.

On the opening weekend, he scored an injury-time winner against Bournemouth and laid on two assists, one of them for Erling Haaland’s controversial derby-clincher at Manchester United. This is not a full-back who hugs the touchline and plays it safe. This is a defender who treats the flank like a runway.

Defensive steel to match the attacking edge

The attacking highlight reels don’t dilute his defensive work. At Old Trafford last Sunday, City were reduced to 10 men when Phil Foden saw red in the 23rd minute. From there, it was backs to the wall. Gvardiol didn’t blink.

He helped City grind out a clean sheet that few would have predicted once they went a man down. Tasked with keeping Bryan Mbeumo quiet, he won nine of his 11 duels – more than anyone else on the pitch – and made four tackles, the highest figure of any City player.

Stretch that beyond one afternoon and the picture is just as impressive. So far this Premier League season, Gvardiol ranks seventh for total duels won across the division and sits in the top 10 for tackles made. This is a defender dominating both the physical and positional battles out wide.

His form has had a clear knock-on effect. Algeria international Rayan Ait-Nouri, brought in from Wolves last summer as a specialist left-back, has barely had a look in at his natural spot. Maresca has been forced to push him higher up the pitch simply to find him minutes.

Competition everywhere, clarity for one

Maresca is spoiled for choice in central defence. Dias, Guehi and others give him depth and variety. Last season, when Gvardiol’s broken leg sidelined him for five months, it opened the door for Nico O’Reilly to fill in at left-back, an unfamiliar role for the young Englishman.

O’Reilly impressed enough to stay in the picture, but not enough to keep Gvardiol out. Now 21, he has been told he will get more chances in his preferred midfield role, though for the moment he must watch from the bench as the Croatian locks down the flank.

Not everything has been perfect. Gvardiol endured a rough night away to Porto in the Champions League, booked in the first half and substituted early in the second. It looked more like a rare off-day than a warning sign. Domestically, his level has barely dipped.

Crucially, the physical doubts that hovered over him last year have faded. After that broken leg, he spoke openly about the time it would take to feel whole again. Now, he is understood to be pain free and back at full match fitness. The way he covers the left side of the pitch backs that up.

Long-term commitment, short-term stakes

In the summer, Bayern Munich and Barcelona circled. Gvardiol chose to stay put. He signed a new five-year contract at Etihad Stadium, committing his long-term future to City and to Maresca’s project.

He described himself as “happy” to extend and underlined the internal standard: “everyone has to fight for their position, no-one is secure.” It’s a nice line, but the reality is simpler. If he keeps playing like this, his place is about as secure as it gets.

Next up is Sunderland at the Etihad on Sunday, a 14:00 BST kick-off that Maresca has already called City’s “toughest” test so far “because of how good they are”. Win, and City stretch their perfect run and send Gvardiol off to international duty with Croatia in buoyant mood.

Croatia face England and Spain in the Uefa Nations League, a sharp step up after a World Cup that ended with a last-32 exit and a sour taste. Gvardiol goes into it no longer as the injured star trying to get back, but as the marauding left-back who has just muscled his way into one of the most competitive back lines in Europe.

If this is him at 100% again, the real question for the season is no longer whether he’ll hold his place – it’s how much further City can stretch their dominance with a £77m “soldier” rampaging down the left.